It Sucks To Be Human
by 7-LunaAbraxos-7
Summary: Elena finds herself in front of Damon's door, needing to comfort him after a change she knows could break him. Do NOT read if you haven't read The Return:Shadow Souls. Plot spoilers.


_Okay, so just a reminder: you can't read this fic if you haven't read _

_The Vampire Diaries: The Return – Shadow Souls._

_Well, you can read it, but there's plot spoilers in here. _

_Ye have been warned…_

_**Disclaimer:**__ I don't own Vampire Diaries or any of the characters. But what I wouldn't give to own Damon… *evil laugh*_

**~DelenaDelenaDelena~**

Elena sighed. She couldn't sleep. After all that'd happened it was a wonder she hadn't fallen asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.

But here she was at just after three in the morning, lying on her back, staring up at the ceiling, wide awake.

She was in Stefan's bed at the board house, and Stefan was lying beside her, asleep. Elena grimaced as she looked at his figure; despite getting hourly doses of blood from her friends, which had returned his strength and colour to his skin, he was still only skin and bone. As his back was to her, she could see every bone in his spine, his skin pulled tight over the vertebrae.

Damn Shinichi.

She knew she definitely wouldn't sleep now, not with that evil kitsune on her mind.

_Not __all__ kitsune are evil,_ she thought, _the one that gave me the bouquet with Stefan's humanity wasn't. _

At that thought, her mind turned to Damon, who had locked himself in his room all day. Poor Damon, who'd opened the bouquet and had been on the receiving end of the white kitsune's gift.

Poor Damon who'd unwittingly returned his humanity by doing so.

Needless to say it'd taken a while to break the fight between Stefan and Damon up, and it'd taken Sage and Matt pulling them apart and dragging them away (as well as Elena, Bonnie and Meredith screeching at them) to end it.

Elena bit her lip. Being a vampire was everything for Damon. The Power, strength, everything about it suited him perfectly. Now he was human, and he'd lost all that. He was no longer the most powerful being in Fell's Church; now he was the prey, something that he used to hunt.

She pulled the covers from her body and left Stefan's room, wandering down the hall in the dark. She wandered aimlessly through the house, and when she finally stopped, she found herself in front of a shut door, light escaping from beneath it. Elena raised her hand and knocked on the door, gently at first, then a little harder.

When she received no reply, she turned and started to leave, but the door opened and she turned back. Damon was standing in the doorway just wearing black pyjama pants, his arms folded across his bare chest, trying to look nonchalant, but Elena could see he was faking it.

"Can I come in?" she asked softly, moving toward him. Damon was silent for a moment, then motioned with his hand for her to enter.

Elena did so, and looked around the room. There was a bed in the corner by a set of large double windows, a low table with flicking candles on it, the wax dripping down onto the dark wood. A bookcase stood against the wall, overflowing with books, and it leaned sideways slightly, putting some of its weight on a dresser.

She decided to stop studying the room and concentrate more on the vam-_ human_ that lived here.

Damon was sitting on his bed, his dark eyes watching her intently, but they no longer had that predatory gaze they had once possessed. Elena crossed the room and sat next to him.

"How are you?" she asked softly, putting a hand on his forearm. Damon grabbed her hand tightly in one of his and glared at her.

"How the bloody hell do you think I am?" he spat, "I'm human. All my senses are muffled; I need to _concentrate_ on _breathing_, something I haven't done since I was turned five hundred years ago!"

He dropped her hand and got to his feet, pacing. He reminded Elena of an injured animal that was angry at itself for getting hurt, the way he paced, as though he were trapped and it was his own fault.

"_I'm_ human," she whispered. "And I've been a vampire, a spirit and a child-like being of Power. But I'm human again. Just like you. You don't see me complaining."

Damon scoffed. "It's Saint Stefan's fault, wanting his stupid humanity back! And who the hell puts humanity in the middle of a freakin bunch of flowers?" That was all she could understand as he slipped into Italian, but she knew that he was swearing colourfully.

Desperate to stop his ranting, Elena stood up and wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on his chest.

"It's okay, Damon. You'll be alright."

"It's not okay! It's anything _but_ okay!"

Elena hugged him tighter, and found it strange that she could feel a heartbeat under her cheek.

Damon looked down at her and rested his head on the top of hers, putting his own arms around her. It was bizarre to him to hold her in his arms and not be able to hear her heart beat, or smell the blood in her veins. All he could feel was her body heat through her thin nightgown; all he could smell was the scent of her coconut shampoo in her hair.

Once again reminded how weak his senses now were, he pushed her away and stalked over to the window. He glared out into the night, hating that he couldn't see everything perfectly despite the dark.

Elena, having stumbled when he pushed her, went over to him and put a hand to his cheek, turning his head so that he was looking at her. He stared defiantly at her, but Elena could see tears in his eyes. Tears of frustration, of anger.

Without thinking about what she was doing, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his, kissing him softly. Damon wrapped his arms round her, pulling her close to him. Elena broke the kiss and looked into his dark eyes, noting that they weren't nearly the exact colour as his pupils like they were when he was a vampire.

His fingers clutched at her back, holding her tightly. Elena put her hands on his chest and could feel his heart thrumming in his chest under her fingers. He leaned in and claimed her lips, this kiss harsher and more demanding. Elena mewed as he deepened the kiss, his tongue massaging hers.

Damon lifted her up and carried her over to his bed, which he placed her on gently before settling over her, taking his weight on his elbows. He dropped his head to her chest, resting his forehead there, and Elena stroked his hair, tangling her fingers in it.

Damon moved to look at her, putting his chin between her breasts and offering her a sad half smile. Elena pulled his face up to hers, joining their lips once more. His hands slid down her body then back up her thighs, pushing her nightgown up to her waist and resting his hands on her hips, his fingers toying with the waistband of her lace panties. Elena put her hands on top of his, flattening his palms on her hips.

"I think you're pushing your luck…" she breathed, a teasing lilt in her voice. Damon smirked down at her, gripping her hips tightly as he leaned forward and met her mouth with his own. Elena brought her hands up and cupped his face, smoothing her thumb over his cheek.

After a moment he pulled back and rolled off of her, lying on his back at her side. Elena shuffled close to him, curling her body as he wrapped an arm around her. The pair lay in silence for a few minutes, Elena drawing little circles on his chest with her finger.

"Why did you come here?" Damon asked, breaking the comfortable silence.

"I wanted to see if you were alright. I knew you'd be finding…_ this_… hard."

Damon turned and looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "Really? You think?" he said scathingly.

She swatted him lightly on the chest and sat up slightly, resting on one elbow to look him in the eye. "You're obviously feeling better if you can dish out the sarcasm."

He sighed, "I'm sorry."

Elena was sure her heart had stopped. Had Damon Salvatore just apologised for speaking to her harshly?

"I came to show you that even though you've… changed… nothing else has. I'm still here."

"I bet Saint Stefan would have something to say about it," Damon said bitterly, reaching out and tucking a stray strand of Elena's hair behind her ear.

"I don't care. Stefan's back from that hellhole; he's safe. I'm more worried about you…"

Damon smiled at her frown, how her eyes sparkled with affection for him. "Worried about me?"

"Of course. I lo-" Elena clamped her mouth shut and lay back down, rolling over so she could stare up at the ceiling.

"You…" Damon prompted, looking down at her face.

"I… love you."

Something inside him felt warm and excited, and his heart raced in his chest. "You love me? But what about my weak little brother?"

"Damon… I can't help how I feel. I love Stefan… but now… it's a different kind of love." She stopped and looked up at him, putting a hand to his cheek. "We grew close during the whole rescuing escapade, what with Matt leaving us together and then with the stuff that happened in the Dark Dimension… I've always liked you but I hadn't wanted to admit it before."

Damon gave her his half-smirk. "Damn. If only I was still a vampire, then I'd make you my Princess of the Night right here and now."

Elena leaned up and kissed him, surprising him by slipping her tongue in his mouth. When they pulled apart for air, something that Damon had never had to do before, Elena put her hand on his chest, tracing the ridges of his abs with a fingertip.

"You don't need to be a vampire to make me your princess," she whispered in his ear, and Damon's face lit up with a grin, one of his hands sliding down her curves to rest on her hip.

Maybe being human again wasn't going to suck as much as he thought it would…

**~DelenaDelenaDelena~**

_Fini mon amis. A little Delena for you. I was originally going to make it lemony but decided not to… being a bit lazy I think, though if you want I can repost it with added lemon._

_Make me happy: read & review!_

_Luna xxx_


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